The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing an integrated circuit comprising metal lines and contact structures. The method further relates to an integrated circuit with metal lines and contact structures.
Integrated circuits comprising, for example, memory elements, logic circuits, and further electronic components that are arranged on a carrier material, typically comprise metal lines. Electronic signals are transferred from the integrated circuits to external components or further components of the integrated circuits by these metal lines. It is often possible, that several layers of metal lines are arranged on top of each other. For example, it may be desirable that certain metal lines are bridged by a suitable construction of lines and contact holes. For this purpose, a certain line must be routed towards an upper or a lower layer. Furthermore, two arrangements of metal lines which are arranged on top of each other may comprise the same pitch. In the course of continuous shrinking of integrated circuits it is desired to minimize the distance between neighboring metal lines. In the formation of metal lines in layers arranged on top of each other as well as in the formation of contact structures the problem exists, that a precise alignment of the corresponding arrangement of metal lines is difficult to realize. Therefore, it is desirable to develop further methods to realize integrated circuits with metal lines having the least possible distance from each other. At the same time, it is desirable to form contacts without the risk of generating shorts. Moreover, it is desirable to minimize the electrical coupling between conducting lines.